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AUGUST 1 THROUGH 11

WEEKEND OF AUGUST 9-11, 2019

Weekend Read: Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back - by Amy Goodman.  In this 2006 New York Times bestseller, brother-sister team of Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, and investigative journalist David Goodman takes on government liars, corporate profiteers, and the media that have acted as their cheerleaders. In Static, the authors cut through the official static to show the truth about war, torture, and government control of the media. Static breaks the sound barrier to present the voices of dissidents, activists, and others who are often frozen out of official debate.  Buy here   

Greetings from Hiroshima

Hiroshima Unlearned: Time to Tell the Truth About US Relations with Russia and Finally Ban the Bomb.
CounterPunch  

If Inequality Continues to Grow at Current Rate, Richest Americans Will Own 100% of US Wealth in 33 Years: Analysis. ... "However you slice it, the rich have been getting richer. Lots richer." CommonDreams

Emergency Doctor to Trump: You Are Wrong, Mental Illness Is Not to Blame for Gun Violence Epidemic. DemocracyNow  

Here is Exactly Why Congress Won’t Act on Gun Violence, Climate Change, Impeaching Trump or Anything Else.  CounterPunch  


World Must Protect Land To Avoid Climate Disaster, New UN Report Warns. ... Averting catastrophic warming requires rapid, global changes to land use and food production, the assessment says.  
HuffPost  

Tree planting 'has mind-blowing potential' to tackle climate crisis. ... Research shows a trillion trees could be planted to capture huge amount of carbon dioxide. Guardian  

FBI’s Leniency Toward Border Vigilante Contrasts With Harsh Treatment of “Black Identity Extremist”.  Intercept  

Democratic Socialists of America Seize the Day. ...  There was plenty of conflict at the DSA’s national convention, but delegates came out of it with a clear plan for the fight ahead.  The Nation  

Bolstering Call to Expand Social Security, New Reporting Reveals How Corporations Are Offloading Pensions. ... Not only are pensions being offered less, existing pensions are being transferred to insurers, with employees suffering consequences.
CommonDreams  

Trump Follows Call For Unity After Shootings With Week Of Attacks. ... President Obama sang “Amazing Grace.” President Trump hurled insults at just about everyone. HuffPost 

AUGUST 8, 2019

Business Group Spending to Influence Public Policy More Than Double What’s Reported ...
The Darkest Money In Washington: Business Groups Spend More On Advocacy And Consulting Than Lobbying.  Tarbell  

El Paso Was The Latest Target Of A Deadly, Global White Supremacist Movement ... The shooter may have acted alone, but he is part of a network that stretches from Christchurch to Charlottesville.   HuffPost  

“Fascism Will Not Go Away by Itself”: George Ciccariello-Maher on Confronting White Supremacy.  DemocracyNow  

'White power ideology': why El Paso is part of a growing global threat  Guardian  

The NRA Has Long Urged Americans To Arm Themselves Against An Immigrant Invasion. ...
The El Paso shooter reportedly used language eerily similar to the gun lobby’s own xenophobic rhetoric.  HuffPost  

NPR Shreds Ethics Handbook to Normalize Regime Change in Venezuela.  FAIR  

Judge Says Chelsea Manning Can Pay Fines, Despite Evidence to the Contrary. ... Manning will face another year in prison and ongoing financial hardship.
 Sparrow Media  

Pushing Out the Border: How the U.S. Is Waging a Global War on Migration.  Intercept   

Tell Rep. Adam Schiff to remove this dangerous secrecy provision from this year’s intelligence bill.
 FPF  

'Biggest Crisis No One Is Talking About': Quarter of Humanity Faces 'Extremely High Water Stress' Intensified by Climate Emergency. ... "A new generation of solutions is emerging, but nowhere near fast enough."   CommonDreams  

AUGUST 7, 2019

Tidbit: Wasn’t the Deep South built on the very idea of getting “free stuff”, as in free labor to build all the stuff you ever dreamed of having. And when that went away along came pols like Huey Long to dish out free stuff from the Guv’mint: highways, price supports, dams, electricity…

The Artist as Prophet.  TruthDig/Hedges  

After El Paso, We Can No Longer Ignore Trump’s Role in Inspiring Mass Shootings.  Intercept  

(2008) Sources: Top Bush Advisors Approved 'Enhanced Interrogation'.  ABC  

CLICK BAIT

Trump Disavows Supporters Who Could Barely Keep Racist Chant Going For 10 Seconds.  > Go  

Republicans Defend Trump’s Decision to Give Putin Office Space at White House.  > Go  

Trump Aides Go Into Crisis Mode After President’s Errant Remarks Condemning White Supremacy.
 > Go 

Ex-FBI Agent Speaks Out: Federal Authorities Have Downplayed White Supremacist Violence for Too Long.  DemocracyNow  

Newsflash: Trump and DeVos Do Not Want to Get Government Out of For-Profit College Industry.  CounterPunch  

Grades Are Capitalism in Action. Let’s Get Them Out of Our Schools.  TruthOut  

Ex-Health Insurance Exec: Industry Is Using Decades-Old Scare Tactics to Fight Medicare for All.
DemocracyNow  

As Ilhan Omar Said, Trump Is a Fascist TruthDig

Pushing Out the Border: How the U.S. Is Waging a Global War on Migration.  Intercept  

Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17. AP  

AUGUST 6, 2019

Tidbit: If you haven’t been paying attention to the Dem. Party for the last 40 years and just now tuned into the presidential debates, you might be shocked at how hostile it is to even debat the modest and sensible ideas proposed by Sanders & Warren. With each mention of “single payer,” “free college,” or “green new deal,” the Party writhes wildly like Linda Blair’s possessed body being sprinkled with Holy Water.

In the World of Truth and Fact, Russiagate is Dead. In the World of the Political Establishment, it is Still the New 42. Craig Murray  

Mueller hearing is another Russiagate dud. ... Robert Mueller’s Congressional appearance, which delivered no new bombshells; more unhinged Russia-baiting; and only more doubts about the Russia investigation and the Democrats that promoted it.
The Gray Zone  

Defense Secretary Reveals Plan For Ground-Launched Missiles In Asia ... “I would prefer months, but these things tend to take longer than you expect,” Mark Esper said the day after the U.S. withdrew from an arms control treaty with Russia.  HuffPost  

We must change food production to save the world, says leaked report. ... Cutting carbon from transport and energy ‘not enough’ IPCC finds.  Guardian
Related:  Drastic Changes to Food Production and Consumption Needed to Save Planet From Catastrophic Warming, IPCC Reveals.
 CommonDreams  

Climate System “Getting Unhinged” as Massive Heat Wave Causes Record Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet.  DemocracyNow  

Indigenous Groups Applaud Protection of Grizzly Bear as Liz Cheney Claims Rule Harms 'Western Way of Life' ... "Liz Cheney is very upset that the people whose land was taken have interfered with the people who took the land.".  CommonDreams  

“You’re Gonna Kill Me”: Bodycam Video Shows Dallas Officers Mocking Man as He Died Pinned to Ground.  DemocracyNow  

AUGUST 5, 2019

Tidbit: Two hours into the second debate before the first question about Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan, Venezuela, North Korea. The foreign policy segment lasted for all of six minutes and was cut-off before a word could be said about Iran.

US Leaders Can Now Be Prosecuted for Illegal War.  TruthOut  

Pentagon testing mass surveillance balloons across the US. ...  The US military is conducting wide-area surveillance tests across six midwest states using experimental high-altitude balloons, documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reveal.  Guardian  

In the World of Truth and Fact, Russiagate is Dead. In the World of the Political Establishment, it is Still the New 42. Craig Murray  

Mueller hearing is another Russiagate dud. ... Robert Mueller’s Congressional appearance, which delivered no new bombshells; more unhinged Russia-baiting; and only more doubts about the Russia investigation and the Democrats that promoted it.  
The Gray Zone
 

The Metadata Trap..... The Trump Administration Is Using the Full Power of the U.S. Surveillance State Against Whistleblowers  Intercept  

Hacked Emails Show GOP Demands on Border Security Were Crafted by Industry Lobbyists.
 Intercept 

Boris Johnson’s Fake Radicalism. Craig Murray

America Has Gulags in Its Own Backyard.
 TruthDig  

Senator Harris: You really need to rethink your plan to put private insurers in charge of Medicare ... Harris's plan won't work and history will prove it.  TarBell  

‘You don’t have any rights’: CBP agents interrogate US citizen and seize his phone after Venezuela solidarity trip. ... The detention of a US citizen returning from Venezuela was an apparent extension of the US government’s efforts to punish citizens who have protested its policy of regime change and economic warfare.  The Gray Zone

WEEKEND OF AUGUST 2-4, 2019

Weekend Read - The Big Heat by Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank.  The world as we know it is undergoing a sudden and violent transformation, unlike anything the planet has experienced since the Cretaceous Extinction. The evidence is all around us: vast droughts that last decades, super-storms and floods that destroy cities, dwindling aquifers, vanishing glaciers, toxic water supplies, raging wildfires, obscure new diseases, vanishing species and indigenous communities. Our planet is changing faster than evolution can keep up. CounterPunch

With Nation's Attention on Democratic Debate, McConnell Advances Over a Dozen Lifetime Trump Judges. ... "Confronting this generational shift in our courts will be one of the most pressing issues for the next president—in fact, the viability of his or her entire agenda depends on it."  CommonDreams

U.S. Troops Are Back in Saudia Arabia - This Will End Badly.  TruthDig  

Trump Administration Imposes Sanctions On Iran’s Foreign Minister. ... The move against Javad Zarif threatens the chances of diplomacy to reduce tensions between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic. HuffPost  

More Than Three Eco-Defenders Killed Per Week in 2018 While Fighting to Protect Wildlife, Homes, and Livelihoods.  ... "They say we are terrorists, delinquents, assassins and that we have armed groups here, but really they're just killing us."  CommonDreams  

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders Dominate Democratic Debate Set Up to Ambush Them. 
Intercept  

The 2020 Candidates Are Ignoring Guantánamo. 
TruthOut  

American Politicians Use Jews as Pawns to Excuse Their Meddling in Israeli Elections.
CounterPunch

California honeybees are still declining. Trump administration says it can’t afford to study it. 
McClatchy

Democrats Urged to 'Oppose This Takeover' as McConnell Rushes to Confirm 19 Right-Wing Judges Before Recess. ... "Senators must put an end to this blatant disrespect to our judicial system, traditions, and democracy."  CommonDreams  

On Voting Rights, the US Is Behind Much of the World.  TruthOut  

AUGUST 1, 2019

Tidbit:  Nestle takes 45 million gallons:daily from San Bernadio National Forest. $Zero is the amount they pay for that water.

Sanders & Warren Fight “Republican Talking Point” That Medicare for All Is About Reducing Coverage
DemocracyNow   

Democrats Must Give Up ‘Center Is Better’ Myth.
TruthDig  

Mass Protests in Colombia and Abroad Decry Killings of 500 Activists Since Peace Accords.  DemocracyNow

A “No Deal” Brexit Would Spark an Economic Cold War with the EU.  CounterPunch/Cockburn  

ACLU Says Trump Admin Has Separated 900 Migrant Children Despite Court Order.  The government was asked to curtail the practice happening at the U.S.-Mexico border last year.  HuffPost  

Insane press conference yesterday with Bolsonaro’s spokesperson saying Glen Greenwald committed a crime. - Reporter: What was the crime committed?
Spokesman: Is there any doubt?
Reporter: What was the crime committed?
Spokesman: The president has no doubt.
Rreporter: What was the crime?
Spokesman: Next question .

More Than 160 Environmental Defenders Were Killed in 2018, and Many Others Labeled Terrorists and Criminals.  Intercept  

New BLM Appointee Brings Conflicts of Interest and Plans to Sell Off Public Lands to Agency Charged With Protecting Them. ... "It's hard to imagine anyone in this position more dangerous than William Perry Pendley."  CommonDreams  

Anti-Semitism and Zionism Have Formed a Brutal Alliance.  TruthOut  

Nicaraguan ‘human rights’ director accused by staff of massive theft of US taxpayer money, death toll inflation. ... ANPDH’s board members are accusing their director of stealing huge sums from US soft power organizations and inflating death tolls during last year’s coup attempt in Nicaragua. The OAS, which relied heavily on ANPDH’s flawed data, has kept silent so far.  The Gray Zone   


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AUGUST 12 THROUGH 22

WEEKEND OF AUGUST 23-25, 2019

Weekend Read: Democracy Incorporated Managed Democracy & the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism - by Sheldon S Wolin.  - With his fundamental grasp of political theory and restless spirit to get at the essence of what threatens modern democracy, Wolin demonstrates that the threats to our democratic traditions and institutions are not always from outside, but may come from within. It is a book that policymakers and scholars of contemporary society should read and reflect upon.  Powell's Books  

40 rebuttals to the media’s smears of Julian Assange – by someone who was actually there. ... A former diplomat who worked in the Ecuadorian embassy while Julian Assange lived there in asylum debunks 40 of CNN’s smears against the WikiLeaks publisher. The Gray Zone  

ENVIRONMENT

'Game-Changer': Sanders Unveils Green New Deal Plan Detailing 10-Year Mobilization to Avert Climate Catastrophe, Create 20 Million Jobs. ... "This is a pivotal moment in the history of America—and really, in the history of humanity."  CommonDreams  

Rainforest on Fire - On the Front Lines of Bolsonaro’s War on the Amazon, Brazil’s Forest Communities Fight Against Climate Catastrophe.  Intercept  

Trump is expected to snub the next U.N. climate summit.  McClatchy  

Protests Break Out After DNC Committee Votes Against Holding 2020 #ClimateDebate. ... Outraged members of the Sunrise Movement stood on chairs singing the union protest song "Which Side Are You On?"CommonDreams

Brazil’s Amazon Fires Highlight The Threat Of Deregulation Amid Climate Change. ... The blazes are roasting South America’s biggest country just as far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is rolling back environmental and indigenous protections.  HuffPost  

Brazil Was a Global Leader on Climate Change. Now It’s a Threat.  ... Jair Bolsonaro’s government could roll back decades of progress on clean energy and reducing deforestation.  Foreign Policy  

Brazilian minister booed at climate event as outcry grows over Amazon fires. ... Political storm over rainforest devastation as Ricardo Salles attends summit.  Guardian  

Trump rule would allow for indefinite detention of immigrant families. ... New rule would effectively replace the Flores agreement, which sets 20-day limit for families held in custody.  NY Times   Related:  Migrants in US border detention centers won't receive flu vaccine  The Hill  

Just Hours After Anti-Semitic Remarks, Trump Self-Promotes Himself as 'King of Israel... Second Coming of God'. ... "The President is a raving lunatic," responded Florida Democrat Andrew Gillum. "He is not well."  CommonDreams  

hoshana Zuboff: Surveillance Capitalism and Our Democracy YouTube video  

‘Pragmatic’: How Corporate Media Praise Dems Who Abandon Progressive Values.  FAIR  

Democrats Are Waging a Covert War on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  TruthDig  

A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas 1492 to the Present.CounterPunch

The Final Placement Syndrome or When Enough Is Enough.  Comm130A  

Chomsky: By Focusing on Russia, We Ignore Trump’s Existential Threat to Climate. TruthOut

The Forest Service Puts Ranchers Ahead of Grizzlies (and the Public Interest).  CounterPunch  

AUGUST 22, 2019

Democrats Have An Open Senate Seat in New Mexico. Will They Elect A Progressive, or the Former Head of the DCCC?  Intercept  

Big Pharma: Gouges, Casualties, and the Congressional Remedy!  CounterPunch  

The Racist Right Has Been Searching For Trump All Along  TruthDig  

We Are Already Living on an Orwellian Planet. TruthOut  

4,000 detained in Kashmir since autonomy stripped: govt sources.  France24  

Facial recognition is now rampant. The implications for our freedom are chilling. ... This new technology is being secretly used on streets and in shopping centres across Britain, making potential suspects of us all.  Guardian  

The Biotech-Industrial Complex Gets Ready to Define What is Human.  CounterPunch  

Google Is Deepening Its Involvement With Egypt’s Repressive Government.  Intercept

Who Inflicts the Most Gun Violence in America? The U.S. Government and Its Police Forces.
CounterPunch  

Trump Accuses Most American Jews of “Disloyalty” to Israel, Deploying Anti-Semitic Trope.Intercept

Put an End to the Endless War Inflicted Upon Our National Forests.  CounterPunch  

AUGUST 21, 2019

Oil Lobbyist Touts Success in Effort to Criminalize Pipeline Protests, Leaked Recording Shows.Intercept
 Related:
 Secwempemc Activists: ‘Despite Government Approval the TMX Pipeline Will Never be Built’
SparrowMedia  

Our Lords, Their Flies.  CounterPunch  

Activist Scott Warren, Facing Federal Charges for Aiding Migrants, Says He Won’t Be Deterred.
DemocracyNow  

CLICK BAIT

Origin Of A Billionaire: Jeff Bezos Just Revealed He Got The Idea For Amazon After Watching A Robot Give A Man A Box Of Condoms. > Go

Queen Elizabeth Moving to Canada.  > Go  

Republicans Defend Trump’s Decision to Give Putin Office Space at White House.  > Go  

Uncle Sam was born lethal. Jackpine Radicals  

Kamala Harris, Who Just Clarified Her Rejection of Real Medicare for All, to Snub Climate Forum in Favor of Big Donors. ... "We need a leader who prioritizes the future of humanity over rubbing elbows with millionaires and billionaires."  
CommonDreams  

Who Inflicts the Most Gun Violence in America? The U.S. Government and Its Police Forces.  CounterPunch  

NOAA: July Was Officially the Hottest Month on Record. ... July was the 415th consecutive month with above-average temperatures.  
DemocracyNow  

The Myth of the ‘Lone Wolf’ Shooter Blinds Us to the Reality of White Supremacy. ... Thinking of these killers as “lone wolf” actors makes it easier to dismiss them as demented individuals, hapless victims of bad parenting, self-destructive misfits, or erratic evil doers. But we need to see these “lone wolf” white supremacists for what they are—members of “wolf packs.”  ReWire  

Example of 'Unknown Unknowns,' Study Detailing 'Almost Instant Mortality of Corals' Suggests Crisis Worse Than Previously Understood. ... "The water temperatures are so warm that the coral animal doesn't bleach... the animal dies and its underlying skeleton is all that remains."  CommonDreams

Big Pharma: Gouges, Casualties, and the Congressional Remedy!  CounterPunch  

AUGUST 20, 2019

Tidbit: Trump’s solution to mass shootings: Involuntary confinement, banning “violent” video games , expansion of the death penalty and bulletproof backpacks.

The World According to George Galloway. ... There are few politicians in Britain who are attacked by the courtiers in the press and the mandarins in power more ferociously than George Galloway, a former member of Parliament and an icon of the left.  TruthDig/Hedges  

July 2019 was hottest month on record for the planet. ... Polar sea ice melted to record lows.  
ScienceDaily
 

Put an End to the Endless War Inflicted Upon Our National Forests.  CounterPunch  

Welcome to Ayn Rand's America  TruthDig  

Is Russian Mob drug money going to Trump re-election? Hopsicker   

5 Years After Ferguson, The Justice Department Has All But Ended Federal Police Reform. ... The Trump administration has sharply curtailed the department’s ability to rein in troubled police departments.
HuffPost  

Democracy Dies Without Alternative Media  
TruthDig  

Sanders Says If Israel Wants to Ban Members of Congress, It Should Not Receive Billions in US Military Aid. ... "The idea that a member of the United States Congress cannot visit a nation which, by the way, we support to the tune of billions and billions of dollars is clearly an outrage."  CommonDreams

Here’s the Evidence Corporate Media Say Is Missing of WaPo Bias Against Sanders.  FAIR  

The Rise of the American Gestapo.
CounterPunch  

AUGUST 19, 2019

American History for Truthdiggers: Bush II and the Birth of Forever War.  TruthDig  

Our Lords, Their Flies.  CounterPunch  

From Hong Kong to Kashmir to the US, Authoritarianism Is Rising.  TruthOut  

The Electability Myth: Read the Report. Reflective Democracy  

Documents Shine New Light on Koch Brothers’ Efforts to Abolish Energy Department. TruthOut

Memo to mainstream journalists: Can the phony outrage; Bernie is right about bias. ... Mainstream media is shocked at Sanders' suggestion that ownership influences coverage. I can tell you it's true.  Salon  

Politics and Psychiatry: the Cost of the Trauma Cover-Up.   CounterPunch  

Trump Administration Weakens Endangered Species Act Amid Global Extinction Crisis. ... Environ-mentalists see the rule as another handout to industry amid rising alarm that the ecosystems on which humans rely are collapsing.  HuffPost  

Trump administration authorizes 'cyanide bombs' to kill wild animals. ... The poison-filled, spring-loaded traps, called M-44s, are used by Wildlife Services for the benefit of farmers and ranchers.  Guardian  

The Kochs Funded Third Way to Push Free Trade to Democrats, New Book Says.  Intercept  

Uncle Sam was Born Lethal.  CounterPunch  

WEEKEND OF AUGUST 16-18, 2019

Weekend Read:  Bundyville Chapter One: A War in the Desert  Cliven Bundy and his sons led two armed standoffs against the federal government and beat them twice in court. The Bundys and their supporters see themselves as Patriots fighting government overreach. Others see them as domestic terrorists rallying extremists and conspiracy theorists to their side. What is the truth?
LongReads  

The British Still Haven’t Learned the Lessons of the Troubles.  CounterPunch/Cockburn  

Bad Information. ... Border Patrol Arrest Reports Are Full of Lies That Can Sabotage Asylum Claims.  Intercept  

“A Narco State Supported by the United States”: How Crime & Corruption in Honduras Fuel Migration.  DemocracyNow  

Trump’s plan to take wolves off the endangered species list is deeply flawed. ... Scientists who study gray wolves think it’s too soon to claim victory in their recovery.  Vox  

JEFFREY EPSTEIN

Epstein’s Death Should Generate Investigations, Not Conspiracy Theories. . ... Anti-Clinton/Trump hashtags will not get to the bottom of Epstein's death, or how the rich and powerful's involvement in child sex abuse, The Nation's Jeet Heer explains.  Real News Network  

Epstein, Faction, and Neopatrimonialism. CounterPunch  

The Jeffrey Epstein Scandal Is Much Bigger Than Jeffrey Epstein  TruthDig  

Horror at MCC: “Gulag” Conditions at NYC Jail Were Known for Decades Before Jeffrey Epstein’s Death.  DemocracyNow  

Confounding New Details Emerge in Epstein Case  TruthDig  

Jeffrey Epstein’s Eyes.  CounterPunch  

Epstein’s Death Must Be the Start, not the End, of the Investigation.  Craig Murray  

While Poorest Scapegoated, Analysis of 25 World's Wealthiest Families a Reminder of Inequality's Economic Drain. ... "It's funny that the real truth about income inequality is not coming from the south like some would like you to believe—the sucking sound draining the middle-class is the 1 percent... Just saying."  CommonDreams  

America's True Religion Is Destroying Our Collective Soul.  TruthDig  

Nothing Less Than a Revolution Can Save Us.  CounterPunch  

Beyond ‘Thoughts and Prayers’: How the Christian Right’s Politics of Providentialism Keeps America from Addressing Gun Violence.  Rewire News  

Consuming the “Planet of the Humans:” The Most Important Documentary of the Century.  CounterPunch  

The Mass Migration Trump Doesn't Want You to Know About . TruthDig  

AUGUST 15, 2019

Assange Must Not Also Die in Jail.Craig Murray 

New UN Report Puts A Dagger Through Climate Deniers’ Favorite Argument ... No, carbon dioxide emissions are not “good” for global food production.  HuffPost  

'Egregious Handout' to Corporate Polluters as Trump EPA Moves to Accelerate Pipeline Approvals With Attack on Clean Water Act. ... "This attempted power grab at the expense of state-based clean water oversight is the epitome of hypocrisy."  CommonDreams  

Supersizing Climate Change: U.N. Says Meat Production Destroys Land & Diminishes Key Water Sources.  DemocracyNow  

Careerism and the War Machine. CounterPunch 

The NRA Is a Symptom of the Racism That Drives Violence in the US.  TruthOut  

Revealed: Republican lawmaker aided group training young men for 'biblical warfare'. ...The group ‘Team Rugged’ offers ‘patriotic and biblical training’ that includes instruction on how to use knives and guns.  Guardian  

New UN Report Puts A Dagger Through Climate Deniers’ Favorite Argument. ... No, carbon dioxide emissions are not “good” for global food production.  HuffPost  

Militarized Observers: Institutional Daydreams of Ethics End Runs to Weaponize Culture.  CounterPunch  

American History for Truthdiggers: Bush II and the Birth of Forever War .  TruthDig  

Mass-Shootings as Expressions of U.S. Racism.  CounterPunch  

Massacres at Home and Abroad.  CounterPunch

AUGUST 14, 2019

'Disgusting and Disturbing': Trump Guts Endangered Species Act in Gift to Big Business. ..."This administration seems set on damaging fragile ecosystems by prioritizing industry interests over science."   CommonDreams  

The Myth of Resistance Inside the Trump Administration. ... The adults in the room are complicit in a dangerous presidency. The Nation

Nancy Pelosi Can't Mask Her Contempt for Progressives. TruthDig  

CLICK BAIT

Trump Demands Facebook Investigate Why Obama’s Post Got So Many Likes.  > Go  

EPA Administrator Proves Carbon Emissions Not Harmful By Inhaling Directly From Truck’s Tailpipe.  > Go  

Putin Denies Mitch McConnell Is Russian Asset: “He Has Never Been an Asset To Any Country":  > Go

Free Julian Assange, before it's too late. Sign to STOP the USA Extradition.  Change.org  

Criminalizing Compassion ... The Unraveling of the Conspiracy Case Against No More Deaths Volunteer Scott Warren.  Intercept  

Is Trump Building a White Ethnostate? TruthDig

The NYT’s Pro-War Arguments Against War With Iran.  FAIR  

There Are ‘Thousands And Thousands’ Of Other Documents On Jeffrey Epstein Case: Journalist. ... Troves of evidence and testimony spell trouble for possible Epstein co-conspirators, warns Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown. HuffPost  

Biden Is Doubling Down on Iraq War Lies.
TruthOut

Leaked Draft of Trump Executive Order to 'Censor the Internet' Denounced as Dangerous, Unconstitutional Edict....  "In practice, this executive order would mean that whichever political party is in power could dictate what speech is allowed on the Internet."  CommonDreams  

Nancy Pelosi’s Bad Attitude Toward Progressives.  CounterPunch  

Israel Systematically Blocks International Scholars From Reaching Palestine.  TruthOut  

On Banning Terrorist Boots: This Is What Occupation Looks Like.  CommonDreams  

AUGUST 13, 2019

An important read:
Fear vs Fear. .... The old rules of politics no longer apply. The only language understood by Donald Trump and his coterie of con artists, billionaires, generals, misfits and Christian fascists—and a Democratic Party that has sold us out—is fear.  TruthDig/Hedges  

Lindsey Graham Says Republicans Will Try to "Repeal and Replace" Obamacare - Again.  Newsweek  

MONSANTO AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Mondanto Resources: US Right to Know

Monsanto Years: Neil Young Mix You Tube

Monsanto's Disinformation Campaign

Critics Say Monsanto's Spying and Intimidation Operation Exposes Company's 'Toxic Corporate Culture' and Threatens Journalists' Rights. ... New documents reveal Monsanto's 'fusion center' aimed at targeting and discrediting journalists and critics.  CommonDreams  

Monsanto's Fusion Center

ACSH (American Council on Science and Health)  

Documents Reveal Monsanto Surveilled Journalists, Activists & Even Musician Neil Young.   DemocracyNow  

Hit piece by Monsanto: Gary Ruskin, GMO Labeling Movement Funded By Anti-vaxxers. AgNewsFeed  

I’m a journalist. Monsanto built a step-by-step strategy to destroy my reputation
Carey Gillam. ... Company records show an action plan that includes promoting certain search results and targeting book reviews.  Guardian

Another hit piece - Monsanto Exec Reveals $17 Million Budget For Anti-IARC, Pro-Glyphosate Efforts  Right To Know  

Revealed: how Monsanto's 'intelligence center' targeted journalists and activists. ... Internal documents show how the company worked to discredit critics and investigated singer Neil Young.  Guardian  

Facial Recognition Technology Is Aiding ICE in Sanctuary Cities.  TruthOut  

Do You Have to Carry ID With You at All Times?  FindLaw  

Chagos children ‘stuck for years in unsafe lodgings’. ... Families of islanders housed in council-allocated accommodation deemed inappropriate by social services.  Guardian  

'Gold Over Life, Literally': How Trump Forced Reversal on Mining Project EPA Scientists Warn Could Destroy Alaskan Salmon Ecosystem.  CommonDreams  

'Unacceptable': Tom Perez, DNC Accused of Trying to Stifle Climate Debate for 2020 Dems. ... "Why is Tom Perez trying to kill the momentum for a climate debate?"  CommonDreams  

AUGUST 12, 2019

As Trump talks of keeping guns out of the hands people with mental illnesses, it’s worth mentioning that barely a month into his presidency, he revoked an Obama rule designed to keep guns from people with severe mental illnesses.

From El Paso to the War on Terror, the Dangers of Historical Amnesia.  Intercept  

ONE SCUMBAG DOWN THOUSANDS TO GO

Newly Unsealed Court Records Detail Jeffrey Epstein And Prince Andrew Accusations. ... Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre has previously named other powerful men. Now more than 2,000 pages of testimony and other records are public.  HuffPost     

Court releases documents about Jeffrey Epstein, accused in sex traffic case, and his alleged procurer Ghislaine Maxwell.  CNBC  

Prince Andrew groped young woman's breast at Epstein house, court files allege.  Guardian

Epstein’s Death Must Be the Start, not the End, of the Investigation. Craig Murray  

Flight Logs Put Clinton, Dershowitz on Pedophile Billionaire’s Sex Jet.  Gawker  


The Rise of the American Gestapo.
CounterPunch
 

Revealed: FBI and police monitoring Oregon anti-pipeline activists. ... Emails show the latest example of environmental groups facing increased surveillance by law enforcement.  Guardian    Related:   Emails show Iraq War PR alumni guided government response to Standing Rock protests. ... Veterans of Bush era “damage control” worked to discredit pipeline opposition as “out of state agitators” with ties to Palestine and George Soros.  MuckRock 

What a Protest in Hong Kong Looks Like When Pro-Democracy Marchers Lose Their Fear of the Police.  Intercept  

Robert Reich: The American Dream Is Built on a Myth.  TruthDig  

Lindsey Graham brags about his shockingly cynical strategy to repeal Obamacare. ... It's all about pitting Americans against each other.  ThinkProgress

Militarized Observers: Institutional Daydreams of Ethics End Runs to Weaponize Culture.  CounterPunch  

Deficit Hawks Are Enabling the Next US War.
TruthOut

Kashmir Under Siege: India Moves to Annex Territory, Heightening Tensions with Nuclear Rival Pakistan. DemocracyNow  


AUGUST 26 THROUGH 31

Weekend of August 30 - September 2, 2019

Weekend Read:  American Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism - by Henry A. Giroux.   As white supremacy, ultra-nationalism, rabid misogyny and anti-immigrant fervor coalesce, a new and uniquely American form of fascism looms. Could our current moment actually bring about the end of democracy in the United States? Are Americans willing to surrender their freedom and dignity, along with their ongoing struggle for equality, justice and mutual respect in the face of the rising tide of political and ideological extremism?   Amazon

The Queen’s Active Role in the Right Wing Coup.  Craig Murray  

When Ilhan Omar Is Accused of Anti-Semitism, It’s News. When a Republican Smears Muslims, There’s Silence.  Intercept  

Boris Johnson Crosses the Rubicon: We Must React Now.  Craig Murray  

The New Politics of the White (Supremacist) Evangelical Republican Party.  CounterPunch     Related:  Conservative Evangelicals Aren’t Hypocrites, They’re Sadists.  Rewire 

THE KOCH

“Kochland”: How David Koch Helped Build an Empire to Shape U.S. Politics & Thwart Climate Action.  DemocracyNow  

The Koch brothers tried to build a plutocracy in the name of freedom ... The Kochs have always believed that rich people had the right to rule over everyone else, democracy be damned.  
Guardian
 

Death and destruction: this is David Koch's sad legacy. ... Anarcho-capitalism was the real cancer plaguing the billionaire libertarian. And it spread across universities, halls of Congress and the White House.  Guardian  

Viral Video of Mississippi Voting Machine Changing Man's Vote Prompts Calls for Paper Ballots and Election Security Reformiral Video of Mississippi Voting Machine Changing Man's Vote Prompts Calls for Paper Ballots and Election Security Reform.  CommonDreams  

How Bolsonaro’s Climate Change Denial & Anti-Indigenous Policies Led to Massive Fires in the Amazon.  DemocracyNow  

CEOs Say Shareholders Won’t Be No. 1 Anymore. Turns Out They Already Weren’t. CounterPunch

How Joe Biden’s privatization plans helped doom Latin America and fuel the migration crisis.  
The Gray Zone

Beto O’Rourke Built His Career on Driving Out Low-Income Mexican Communities.  TruthOut  

Incoming Harvard Freshman Deported After Visa Revoked.   The Crimson  

Land transfer advocate and longtime agency combatant now leads BLM. ... William Perry Pendley has been tasked with overseeing 245 million acres of public lands he’s argued the federal government shouldn’t own.  High Country News  

August 29, 2019

GateHouse’s Takeover of Gannett: Bad News for Journalism and the Planet.  FAIR  

Before Kamala Harris Soured on Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All Bill, She Grew Her Email List From It.  Intercept  

Why is the Far-Right Rising Globally? (1/2). ... Walden Bello, author of "Counterrevolution: The Global Rise of the Far-Right," argues that the far-right is in ascendancy at the moment not only in reaction to the failures of neoliberalism, but also because of the failures of liberal democracy.  
TRNN
 

A Top Financier of Trump and McConnell Is a Driving Force Behind Amazon Deforestation.  Intercept  

Fires are devouring the Amazon. And Jair Bolsonaro is to blame. ... The ongoing destruction of the Amazon is taking place because of policy choices made by those who now rule Brazil.  Guardian

New Poll Shows 'Deep and Boiling Anger' Towards Political Establishment Still Widespread. ... More than half of respondents also said race relations are worsening under Trump and that they feel "anxious and uncertain" because of the economy.   CommonDreams  

Israel bombs Iraq, escalating violence targeting Iran
An Israeli bombing of a weapons depot allegedly used by Iran is the first Israeli strike on Iraq in nearly forty years and a major escalation of Israel’s campaign against Tehran. The attack also underscores how Israeli violence on its neighbors has been normalized, As’ad AbuKhalil argues.  
The Gray Zone
 

After Handing Rich $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut, Trump Reportedly Considering Slashing Medicare and Social Security as 'Second-Term Project' ..."Mr. Trump, you are not going to have a second term," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders in response to the president's reported plan.  CommonDreams  

WaPo Complicit in Corruption of DC Council’s Corporate ‘Concierge’   FAIR  

August 28, 2019

Noam Chomsky: Democrats Are Failing the Test of Our Time.  TruthDig  

Freedom of the Press? Not in the U.S..  .... The United States ranks 48th among nations for press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders..  CounterPunch  

Dissent Is Being Criminalized Right Under Our Noses .  TruthDig  

CLICK BAIT
Completely unburdened by
hope for the future

Trump Attempts To Ease Tensions With Jewish Community By Noting He Also Would've Murdered Christ.  > Go  

Pentagon Awards Oscar Mayer $102 Million Contract For New Military-Grade Hot Dog With All The Fixings  > Go  

Trump Disavows Supporters Who Could Barely Keep Racist Chant Going For 10 Seconds. > Go

Trump’s Concentration Camps for Children
August 23, 2019. .... This week, the Trump Administration declared that immigrant children can be detained indefinitely, and in conditions that can be described as concentration camps. We talk to Sasha Abramsky of The Nation.  TRNN  

Sheldon Wolin and Inverted Totalitarianism .  
TruthDig
 

After Handing Rich $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut, Trump Reportedly Considering Slashing Medicare and Social Security as 'Second-Term Project'. ... "Mr. Trump, you are not going to have a second term," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders in response to the president's reported plan.  CommonDreams  

Donald Trump Is Coming for Medicare and Social Security.  TruthDig  

The Biotech-Industrial Complex Gets Ready to Define What is Human.  CounterPunch  

Plan clears way for mining and drilling on land stripped from Utah monument. ... Management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante, downsized by Trump administration in 2017, criticized as ‘a giveaway to fossil fuel’  Guardian  

August 27, 2019

The Curse of Moral Purity.  TruthDig/Hedges  

GOP Lobbyists Help Brazil Recruit U.S. Companies to Exploit the Amazon. Intercept  

Notes on Inauthenticity in a Creeping Fascist Nuthouse.  CounterPunch  

Plan clears way for mining and drilling on land stripped from Utah monument. ... Management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante, downsized by Trump administration in 2017, criticized as ‘a giveaway to fossil fuel’  Guardian  

Kamala Harris Has Nothing to Offer Progressives
TruthDig  

15 Former Spooks Who Work At CNN And MSNBC Now.  Daily Caller  

Trump’s Greenland Comments Follow Tradition of Violent Colonialism.  TruthOut  

We can't trust police to protect us from racist violence. They contribute to it. ... White nationalists pervade law enforcement. Fighting far right violence means continuing our fight for police accountability
Guardian  

Mike Pompeo Has Extreme Views on Muslims — and Liberals Don’t Seem to Care. Intercept  

The Mythology of the Stock Market.  
CounterPunch

Ex-minister: Bolsonaro ‘most detested’ leader as he neglects the Amazon. ... Rubens Ricupero warns the far-right leader is wreaking havoc on Brazil’s environment and its global standing. Guardian

Bernie Sanders’s Climate Plan Is More Radical Than His Opponents’ — And More Likely to Succeed.  Intercept  

August 26, 2019

The U.S. Border Patrol and an Israeli Military Contractor Are Putting a Native American Reservation Under “Persistent Surveillance”  Intercept  

Notes on Inauthenticity in a Creeping Fascist Nuthouse.  CounterPunch   Related:  (2015) Sheldon Wolin and Inverted Totalitarianism  TruthDig  

Henry A. Giroux: Neoliberal Capitalism Sets the Stage for Fascism.  TruthOut  

Corporate Media Filled With Nameless Voices Attacking Progressive Democrats.  FAIR  

The Latest Victim in the Crucifixion of Julian Assange  TruthDig  

When ICE Comes for Their Neighbors, These Community Defense Brigades Will Be Ready. ... In the era of Trump, communities are organizing foot and bike patrols to protect their neighbors against immigration raids.  In These Times  

It’s Time to Indict Aung San Suu Kyi for Genocide Against the Rohingya in Myanmar.  Intercept

Police Use Your Money to Buy Silence from Brutality Victims/ TRNN  

US Set to Blow Other Countries Away With 'Staggering' Scale of New Oil and Gas Production. ... Over next decade, unlesss its trajectory changes, 61 percent of new global production will come from the US.  CommonDreams  

Democrats More Positive About Socialism Than Capitalism.  Gallup  

Who Inflicts the Most Gun Violence in America? The U.S. Government and Its Police Forces.  CounterPunch  

Epstein docs a Florida ‘deep dive’.  MadCow


 
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